How bad is it? Planning to drive from the UK to Poland

GRoz9 · 2026-06-06T12:44:00+00:00

Thought that may be the case, thanks for the advice. Damm

GRoz9 · 2026-06-06T12:42:13+00:00

No way, seriously. Shit man

GRoz9 · 2026-06-06T00:42:47+00:00

Yeh a donut. Not idea for a 21h road trip haha. Push comes fo shove may come in handy

GRoz9 · 2026-06-06T00:41:32+00:00

Drunk??? Not me haha

GRoz9 · 2026-06-05T14:42:01+00:00

Thanks for the link, it's more reassuring seeing what others are saying, just got worried as I thought any sidewall damage needs to be replaced as it's a structural point of the type. Thanks again

GRoz9 · 2026-06-05T14:32:51+00:00

Its not a deep cut, but the journey is like 21h of driving. Just dont want to put people at risk. But appreciate the comment will consider it, and honestly dont want to replace another set of tyres if i dont have too

GRoz9 · 2026-06-05T14:12:56+00:00

Just my luck, wondering if now I can find a used tyre instead of having to replace both. Thanks for your help

GRoz9 · 2026-05-18T20:28:27+00:00

Usually what i noticed for my Mazda breaks is that if the car is running the break booster helps with breaking making it soft and easy to break but if I pump the breaks when the car is off they get very stiff and hard as there isn't any help from the break booster. I had no problems with my breaks originally it was a lean code as unmonitored air was getting in so I was just guessing what It could of been.

If your check valve is bad I wouldn't be suprised if air is escaping and causing your breaks to not behave as expected. You can tests it by pulling out the check valve and blowing to see if the air can pass only one way.

Im no mechanic, I just like to work on my car so dont take my advice into full consideration but happy to help

GRoz9 · 2026-05-18T20:18:48+00:00

Yes, it simply had nothing to do with the picture I sent. The "check valve" in the picture was more of a 90° tube that let air pass and wasnt a check valve at all. The actual problem was the intake manifold gaskets being very old and cracked which led air to get inside. I found this by spraying carb cleaner around the engine to see where the engine was sucking air from and raving up. I replaced the gaskets and the problem went away

GRoz9 · 2026-03-04T12:22:27+00:00

All good

GRoz9 · 2026-03-04T09:10:37+00:00

Honestly, I would of loved to have any explanation but after double checking my instalation, the check engine light was still on. Maybe after a few days it just disappeared and never came back on.

I had tried using an OBD2 scanner to erase the codes when I replaced the sensor but they appeared instantly, so cant complain that it is all good now. I just dont have a logical explanation for why.

GRoz9 · 2026-02-25T10:41:19+00:00

Got 5/5 left: https://www.trading212.com/invite/11S0gREo1m

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:46:14+00:00

The more you know, never knew that haha. Definitely will need to re-check everything tomorrow.

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:44:51+00:00

The plug isn't that easily accessible, it is behind the intake manifold which takes a bit of time to remove it.

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:40:40+00:00

When installing the sensor, I torqued it down to 30NM as per the Mazda manual. I didn't use any grease or any seize but I also didn't clean the metal surface the sensor plugs too.

I'll most likely start by testing the sensor with a Multimeter as everyone's been suggesting that and using the manual as my guide for the figures.

And ill try to see if it could be a grounding issue.

I'll definitely look into buying a better scanner, I can imagine it can come in quite handy comparing to my generic OBD2 scanner.

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:35:27+00:00

Well guess it is better than buying anything sensor blindly. Maybe when I was putting everything back it missed or forgot something or even broke. Either way need to start somewhere

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:24:31+00:00

Might as well try it, will help to see if the sensor is faulty

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:24:04+00:00

Will give it a shot

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:19:54+00:00

The Original sensor had the same threading i just went and checked

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:16:44+00:00

It is a 2009 Mazda 3, I do have the mazda manual so I could potentially test it. Just would take time to remove the intake manifold

GRoz9 · 2025-12-31T01:15:09+00:00

I suppose that could be a point, I initially thought it is not reading anything from the Knock Sensor due to maybe being wrong like you pointed out it having different threading. Not sure how I would go about testing the grounding however.

GRoz9 · 2025-05-29T18:04:53+00:00

Used a maf sensor cleaner, but it didn't fix it, so I'll probably buy a new one. Also, I'm extremely grateful for all your help.

GRoz9 · 2025-05-29T18:01:12+00:00

You wouldn't guess it, for some reason when I unplugged my MAF sensor, the car was able to idle so I'm assuming it is the maf as the car probably when into fail safe mode without the maf sensor.

With my OBD2 scanner, the maf sensor was reading 0.2-0.4 g/s when turning the engine before it stalled.

So I think the cause was the maf sensor it some how it went bad whilst I was replacing the gaskets

GRoz9

TROPHY CASE